He Invited Me!

During the past few weeks I have been searching through the memories of the years I have spent in ministry for those significant spots to reflect on as I walk this journey.  Yes, at my age I begin to reflect a great deal on the past and wonder how much more time I will spend here on this journey.  The thoughts do not come with a sense of regret or disappointment.  In reality they come with great appreciation and amazement!

I recall many years ago sitting in a room full of teenagers and adults listening to a man share about how the Gospel is real and is shared through the Spirit of God to specific individuals at very specific times in history.  As I sat in the back of the sanctuary of Fayetteville First Baptist Church I could not help but really consider the work the Holy Spirit was doing in my life.  For a week I had been wrestling in my mind and my heart with the realities of this Gospel message.  I knew what the truth was, but was it really real in my life and could it change my life were the questions I was asking over and over again.

I remember vividly a Saturday night in May 1979, the Lord spoke to me as real as anyone has ever spoken to me and He invited me to be HIS!  This was a moment I will never forget and will always reflect on as the moment of conversion in my life.  That night I bowed on my knees and confessed Jesus as Lord of my life.  I realized that night He invited me to be one of His own disciples.  That night I began this incredible journey of faith that continues to this very moment!

Just a little more than one year later I found myself sitting on my knees in a quiet room in a mountain chapel.  Next door to the room was the evening youth service during our summer camp experience.  In that quiet room everything faded away and my focus was on this same Jesus speaking to me as clearly as I heard the previous year.  This time His words were very similar but unique.  I heard the voice of the Savior say once again, "I invite you to be mine!"  This time He was inviting me to join Him in this amazing work of ministry that has forever transformed my world!  That night I felt the Lord ask me to serve Him for the rest of my days in a unique way with all of my life.

This journey in ministry has been a bit more of a struggle than I thought it would be.  The days of wrestling with Him became much more frequent.  The times of deep pain in my soul over the lost and the broken hearted has often felt like more than I could bear.  The overwhelming sense of responsibility for communicating the truth of His Word has been a weight only He can give enough strength to carry!

In the midst of all the struggle and wrestling comes a sense of excitement and joy...because He invited me to join Him!  Yes, the Lord Jesus invited me to join Him in the work of Gospel spreading, disciple-making, sheep herding ministry He had begun 2000 years earlier.  This is an amazing thing that He does in us as we surrender to His will and follow His purposes.  The journey is not easy.  The Way is not smooth and without its potholes and bumps.  The path is the most challenging path to follow at times.  But with all of its tough times and struggles it is the most awesome journey anyone can be invited to join!

The most incredible aspect of this journey, apart from the grace that He pours out, is that He does not allow us to make this journey alone.  He invites others to join the journey!  Yep, YOU have been invited to join this amazing journey of faith!  You have been invited to make a difference with your life!  You have been invited by the King to serve the Kingdom with all of your gifts, abilities and talents for the purpose of making His Gospel known to al who will hear!

Will you join me in this amazing journey of faith and make His Gospel known?  I so want to experience His presence in my life as I serve the Kingdom.  I also  want to sense your presence beside me as I reach this world with His truth.  Will you join me?  Will you get involved beside me as we seek to share the Gospel and teach His Word to everyone we can?

Please take a few moments right now to consider how He has invited you to join Him.  Think through the times in your life when you know God was speaking to you and calling you to a great work for the Kingdom.  Remember His words to you and how excited you were to follow Him into this amazing journey.  Now, ask Him to renew within you the desire to serve Him with everything you have!  Look for ways you can get involved right where you are in His purposes and His ways of reaching the world with His truth.  Seek to join others in their journey and make an impact on the lives of those right around you.  Reach your world with His truth and teach His Word to all who will listen!

The Lord has invited us as a ministry to join His work in several locations.  This invitation has come with great anticipation.  Through the years of serving along side the churches in missions, we have seen God's hand at work in many places.  Each time He invites us to get involved it always comes with great struggle and sacrifice.  His invitation to get involved with Him in His work requires a growing of our faith and a stretching of our trust in Him.  He always challenges us to go with Him to a place that simply does not seem possible from our perspective.  Yet, He always comes through with resources and people to show us His plans and His purposes.  We face some of those days again today!

God has invited us to walk the journey of establishing a permanent presence of the church in Sajcavilla, Guatemala.  To see this happen we will need to gather resources far above what we have to accomplish His plans.  We trust His heart to guide us in this journey and know He will provide.  It is with great anticipation that we share this invitation with all who will join us!  God desires to establish a lighthouse of truth and a beacon of hope in this Guatemalan community.  We know He is at work in Sajcavilla as we see His hand stirring the community for His grace and His salvation.  Each trip we take to work along side the church there in Sajcavilla we meet new followers of Christ and we hear of His great work of healing, restoring and saving!

The Lord of the harvest has invited many of you to get involved in the harvest in Guatemala.  Will you today join us in this great adventure and partner with the church in Sajcavilla as they plant roots down in the community to build, grow and reach the precious people of that community?  We need many of you to commit to support with financial resources.  We need many of you to join us as we go and serve with the church.  We need many of you to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send the workers into the field and strengthen the workers as they go.  We need servants to go and teach His Word, make disciple-makers, and encourage the church as they reach their world!  Will you please join us right now as the door of opportunity for the church is open and the community is seeking the hope that comes in the Gospel message being shown and shared!

He has invited every one of us to join Him.  He desires each one of us to answer the call to get involved with Him in His work.  Will you say yes today to His invitation to get involved with Him in His work of ministry and mission to reach the world and teach His Word!!

In His Grip,
JT